Squigly stands alone under a spotlight in a void of cold darkness. As she looks around the abyss she felt a familiar lump in her throat which made her heart race — a drop of sweat runs down the side of her face as she clenched her hand against her chest.
Suddenly a calm vision plays out and reveals an all too familiar scene: the sight of an aristocratic party in progress with hundreds of esteemed guests.
"...No." Squigly mutters softly. She could feel a bit of anxiety building up within her.
The vision played out like an early 1940's film: black and white picture with a vintage audio effect.
A group of five newcomers, all women, enter the party and were heavily armed — the one leading the group had a mounted shotgun for an arm, her identity was left a mystery thanks to the all-black face veil which seemed to only show her left eye and mouth, the latter of which was a twisted smile.
"Happy birthday, Selene." The armed woman took a sip of champagne before pointed her gun out to an unknown target. "Time to blow out your candles."
Without warning Squigly was unable to move or take action, this sudden form of paralysis even prevented her from closing her eye to spare herself the horrors of this nightmare. Her eye welled up with tears as she shook in absolute horror.
The sound of gunshots going off and haunting screams filled the void.
Soon after the massacre Squigly was met with another vision that tormented her -- being at the mercy of the woman who slaughtered her family. The mysterious shooter pointing her shotgun to Squigly's head while her mother, Selene Contiello, was forced to watch in unfathomable terror and sorrow by the four other women who restrained her.
"Don't forget to make a wish."
The woman provided one last taunt to the grieving mother who pleaded desperately to spare her child only to receive a chilling smirk as the gunshot goes off.
Squigly's blood splatters across her own face and she was left shaking uncontrollably with tears pouring out of her eye as she witnessed her own death. "No... No. No. No! NO!" She repeats over and over not wanting to witness any more.
In her wake she rises in a panic, sweating and gasping for air only to find she was safe in bed. She looks to her side and sees Filia sleeping soundly. The sight of her friend calms her breathing, but the trauma was still there.
"Squigly...?" Leviathan reveals that he was awake, curling around so that he was looking at his host. "Are you alright?"
"...I'm fine, Lev. Sorry. I hope I didn't startle you."
"You're sweating. Did you have that dream again?"
She looks down to the covers and sighs, but nods to confirm Leviathan's suspicion. Squigly carefully gets out of bed, making sure to not disturb Filia, and makes her way to the bathroom. She washes her face with a wet rag to get the sweat off of her forehead. Once she was done she was able to see how exhausted she appeared in the mirror, her already black lower eyelids were beginning to develop bags under them.
She touches the underside of her eyes and exhales through her nostrils. "That woman... The Medicis..." She mutters spitefully.
"...I know it's hard, but you shouldn't let the past consume you." Leviathan tries to consult her, despite this even he knew this was easier said than done. Regardless, it didn't stop him from trying — he cared about Squigly too much to let suffer from these reoccurring nightmares.
"I know, and I try to get better...but I want to know why. I hate not knowing, Lev. Why did they kill my family? What did we ever do to them?"
Every day was a struggle despite how she appeared. Squigly endured months of emotional trauma, keeping it hidden from the Player and Filia so that would never have to worry. She endures the memories seeded into her brain and in turn sprouts the tree of hatred, she was only human after all, or at least the remnant of one.
YOU ARE READING
The Wonderful World of Skullgirls
Fanfiction'The Player' arrives in the Canopy Kingdom to find the Skull Heart and make a wish of his own... Ignorant fool.
